Alfalfa expert talks drought, gene flow

Monday

Feb 4, 2013 at 11:00 AM

With alfalfa hay prices double or even triple what anyone has ever seen and supplies at their lowest level in decades, alfalfa growers have a robust market in which to deploy a variety of genetic options and production strategies, according to nationally known alfalfa expert Dan Undersander.

By Candace Krebs

With alfalfa hay prices double or even triple what anyone has ever seen and supplies at their lowest level in decades, alfalfa growers have a robust market in which to deploy a variety of genetic options and production strategies, according to nationally known alfalfa expert Dan Undersander.

At the same time, the lingering drought is creating unique management challenges.

"When you have a drought, you have reduced yields, and you also have more insects and diseases," Undersander said recently by phone from Madison, Wis. "The question is are you willing to spend more on inputs even when you know your yields will be lower?"

Drought management of alfalfa is among the topics the popular University of Wisconsin forage agronomist will discuss when he travels to Nebraska to serve as the featured speaker at the Mid-America Alfalfa Expo Feb. 5-6 in Kearney. He will also speak on promising new varieties and growing alfalfa as part of a crop rotation.

Some growers are gaining economic advantages planting Roundup Ready varieties, others are targeting the organic market and still others are growing non-genetically modified varieties to avoid the high cost of technology fees, Undersander said.

"The good news is people have a choice," he said.

Alfalfa genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup herbicide was approved two years ago after a contentious regulatory debate and has since proven more suited to some regions of the country than others.

"Ninety percent of the seed sold in Nebraska and Kansas last year was Roundup Ready alfalfa," Undersander said. "Up here in Wisconsin, it's only about 9 percent. It's not that growers here are opposed to the technology, they just don't see the same economic advantages of buying the higher priced seed."

Demand for non-GM hay represents less than 5 percent of the overall market. All of the major export markets accept GMO hay, including Korea, China, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, he said.

By contrast, 30 to 40 percent of the alfalfa seed market remains non-GM, which is preferred by some export markets and by some domestic growers.

Late last year, a biotechnology advisory committee offered a comprehensive report to the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding its co-existence policy supporting production of both conventional and organic crops. In the report, the committee recommended more research and producer education on gene flow, the potential for transfer of genetic material between crops grown in separate fields.

Undersander said concerns about gene transfer are more applicable to grain crops. Two alfalfa hay crops can be planted within a foot of each other with virtually no risk of cross contamination, he said.

"In grain production, we harvest the next generation, so there is a female and a male plant involved. In forage production, we are just harvesting the mother plant," he explained. "It's a little bit like if you had a Hereford beef cow, and she got bred to an Angus — the cow is still a Hereford. What you plant is what your field will be."

In addition, alfalfa pollen is moved by insects rather than by the wind.

"Unlike corn, where the pollen can blow five or 10 miles or at least some distance down the road, alfalfa pollen is only going to be moved as far as insects will carry it and only if insects are present," he said.

If pollination were to occur, it would take six to eight weeks for the seed to mature and become viable. Commercial hay producers typically harvest the crop well before then.

The West does have a unique opportunity to grow organic alfalfa hay, due to its high potassium soils, Undersander said. Organic restrictions on commercial fertilizer use make it less economically feasible further east. "Basically, the western halves of Oklahoma and Kansas have fairly alkaline soils, whereas east of there you have lower pH soils. The higher rainfall areas tend to be lower in soil potassium," he said.